Questlove Opens 'the Hoodie Shop'

The day before New Yorkers took to the streets to demand justice in the death of Florida teenager Trayon Martin via the Million Hoodie March, Roots drummer Questlove cut the ribbon on a store he's calling the Hoodie Shop. But he wants to make sure that people know he's not operating opportunistically in the face of the tragedy. He clarified that his business was planned before Trayvon was killed and hoodies became symbols of the case that has captured the nation's attention:

Martin, who was murdered on February 26th while walking unarmed in a Sanford, Florida housing complex, has unfortunately popularized the hoodie in his death because his shooter, George Zimmerman, called him suspicious because of the clothing he was wearing.

The Roots drummer, who partnered up with Brooklyn Bowl owner Peter Shapiro, immediately contacted his partner to see what he felt about the opening with the Martin controversy swirling.

“I texted Pete and said how ironic is it that we’re going into this Hoodie Shop venture now, with what’s happened,” Questlove told New York magazine. “How we gonna handle this, because I don’t want people to think we’re jumping on the hoodie bandwagon.’”

The Hoodie Shop opened a day before the Million Hoodie March held in New York City.

Questlove says he planned to open the shop for a year ago and the grand opening just happened to occur around the same time.